"The cleanliness and efficency ..."

The cleanliness and efficency of the Friarage Hospital where people are very treated well. The food looks very good, smells very good and is much enjoyed by my old friend who has been a patient for nearly six weeks.

What could be improved

Thank you for your reply to my March comments. I have followed your advice but there is no improvement in the treatment of patients I observe. My old friend on Rutson Rehabilitation Unit was fidgety and distressed when I saw her tonight. She smelt. I took her to the toilet and called a nurse to assist her and she called for me not to leave her. She was helped and returned to the ward with faecally fingers. She is old and has cataracts. She cannot see and had told the nurse she had washed her hands okay. It was under her fingernails which were extremely long and dirty. I asked if she could be sorted out but was told nurses cannot do that if the patient says they are okay. This ward has had three outbreaks of D & V warnings posted on the ward entrance doors since my old friend has been admitted. Can no one see the connection? If patients are old and partially sighted and left with dirty hands then given sandwinches and fruit for tea they are likely to infect themselves and/or any doorhandles etc they touch. If the staff have not the skill to point out the need for further washing KINDLY this will remain a risk for patients and visitors alike (not for staff as they wear gloves). I had to insist that she was seen by a manicurist (the chiropodist does this) I was told it was not likely to happen before her discharge. My question is then why has this not been booked before? I despair. Last time I visited I had to pass "nurses" laughing about an old lady who had been embarressed by seeing a male patient naked. I think this unit should be shut.

Anything else?

Thank God the Friarage is not under the Primary Care Trust. Sadly there is nowhere at present to put PCT experiences of the Rutson, not that I can find anyway. This Unit appears to the General Public to be a part of the Friarage. There are no PALS PCT leaflets that I can see displayed on the ward or corridor to the ward.

Responses

Response made on the behalf of NHS North Yorkshire and York Community and Mental Health Services:

At the moment NHS Choices have advised NHS North Yorkshire and York Community and Mental Health Services that they can only create feedback pages for services with links to whichever site they are based on. In this instance, a PCT service is based on an acute hospitals site, and the PCT cannot have a webpage set up for this unit, as it has the same address and postcode as the acute hospital. NHS Choices recognise the issue where services belonging to one organisation are based at the same postal address as another healthcare provider, and that this situation is not uncommon. This creates problems as feedback cannot currently be managed by the providing organisation, but only by the parent trust who manage the facilities as a whole, as they are registered by NHS Choices at that address. The system that is currently in place has been the same for many years now, and NHS Choices are currently working to improve this system. NHS Choices state the new editing system will be a big improvement for both web editors and patients and will eventually allow healthcare providers to register to manage their own feedback, wherever their services may be based. In the meantime, NHS Choices apologies for any inconvenience this may cause to service users when providing feedback.